Unlimited immigration may lead to violence on Britain's streets, warns former Archbishop of Canterbury

Dr George Carey has warned uncontrolled immigration may lead to more violence on Britain's streets

A leading Anglican archbishop has warned uncontrolled immigration may lead to more violence on the country's streets.

In a startling attack on the UK's current immigration policy, Lord Carey said there was great concern among the British public about the number of people moving to the country.

He said mass immigration could change what it means to be British and warned resentment and violence could follow if the problem is not addressed.

Lord Carey, who was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1999 to 2002, is part of a cross party group on immigration.

He said while many Britons saw the benefits that immigration brought to the country, British society was 'changing before their eyes' with 600,000 people arriving in the UK in the past year.

His cross party group is calling for a 'one in and one out' policy in a bid to reduce pressure on Britain's public services.

'With a turnover of a million people in one year, no wonder many people sense that the glue that binds our society together is weakening,' he wrote in a newspaper article which was quoted in The Telegraph.

'It takes time for people of different cultures to get accustomed to each others' ways and, regrettably, not all newcomers are committed to integration.

'Some are not even sure about the democratic values that are the very foundation of our society.

'There is deep visceral distress, bordering on anger, among many British people of all colours concerning migration.

'We have seen how this can spill over into violence in European countries such as France, the Netherlands and Denmark. It would be arrogant to assume that this could never happen in Britain.'

But his comments drew criticism from religious commentators with Simon Barrow of the religious think-tank Ekklesia accusing the former archbishop of playing 'a numbers game'.

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Unlimited immigration may lead to violence on Britain's streets, warns former Archbishop of Canterbury